Dingman, Pa., may get major grocery, retail development

A major grocery and retail development is being planned for Route 739 in Dingman Township.

beth brelje

A major grocery and retail development is being planned for Route 739 in Dingman Township.

Developer Jim DePetris of Plymouth Meeting-based DEPG Development Associates has confirmed that his company recently signed an agreement to buy more than 200 acres on Route 739 near the intersection of Log Tavern Road.

The land is on the same side of the road as the Dingman Delaware school complex.

The agreement is so new that it has not yet been presented to township officials, DePetris said.

He envisions the project happening in three phases.

The first phase will include the construction of 70,000 square feet of retail space for a grocery store and 10-15 retail stores.

The next phase will bring professional and medical offices. And a third phase will include some residential buildings, perhaps senior housing or townhouses, DePetris said.

The work of DEPG Development Associates is well known to shoppers in Monroe County.

DEPG is responsible for three popular projects on Route 611 in Stroud Township, including the Dick's Sporting Goods complex, Sonic drive-in restaurant and the strip mall with Moe's Southwestern Grill and Sleepy's mattress store.

"We had a vision there 12 years ago and we have the same vision in Dingmans Ferry," DePetris said. "We do a good product. We work well with municipalities."

No stores have been named yet because the project is so new but DePetris said he has some prospects and that he met with Mike Sullivan, head of the Pike County Economic Development Authority.

"He was very encouraging. We feel there is a real need here for a supermarket," DePetris said.

Sullivan says there is a $32.6 million market for a grocery store in the area.

To get that number, Sullivan crunched 2013 census figures and found that in 2013 the average household spent $5,024 on groceries.

There are some 9,500 homes within a radius that would use a grocery store in Dingman Township. To be conservative, Sullivan counted just 6,500 homes and multiplied that number by a household's yearly grocery spending.